Council bosses have pleaded for more time in the on-going row over hospital facilities in Sussex.

Residents in Chichester are furious that West Sussex Primary Care Trust selected Worthing to become the location for the area's new major general hospital, stripping their own hospital of some services.

Chichester district councillors wrote to the trust on Tuesday urging them to defer the decision, which was announced last week, so they could make further arguments.

Leader of the council, Myles Cullen said: "We say the system used to determine this decision is gravely flawed, and we must do everything we can to expose with clarity how these recommendations were arrived at.

" This whole thing is urban centric, ignoring rural poverty and rural deprivation.

"It is shocking that the trust appears to have ignored the considerable local concerns about blue light access times and how long it may take to travel to a major general hospital when seriously ill.

"There is no doubt such a decision, as it stands, will lead to a serious degradation of care in this district.

"We urge the trust to hold back on making that final decision, and take another look at the weighting and scoring process that has been utilised."